New Vehicle Quality Is At Another All-Time Low

The days of American cars being poorly-built jalopies with poor-quality interiors are over. American brands claimed the top three spots for the second year in a row, though Chevrolet dropped off the podium.

Ram is the highest-ranking of the mass-market brands in terms of initial quality, scoring 140 PP100. Dodge scored second place, ending up just one point worse. The third step of the podium belongs to last year's winner, Buick. This year, Buick ended on 162 PP100, compared to the 139 PP100 from last year. This illustrates the widespread problem, even at the sharp end of the stick.

This may come as a surprise, but Alfa Romeo ranked the highest of the premium brands with a score of 143 PP100. Interestingly, Alfa Romeo also came out tops in the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index,measuring the sales experience. As American cars are turning stereotypes on their head, Alfa is doing the same for Italian automobiles. Porsche placed second with 167 PP100, and Cadillac came third with 170 PP100.

The award for most improved year-on-year goes to Maserati, shedding 73 PP100 from last year's score. Second is Alfa Romeo, which is 68 points down. Ram dropped 45 PP100 to score that impressive outright win.

J.D. Power also gave awards to parent corporations that built segment leaders in a particular category.

General Motors walked away with the most, thanks to the Buick Encore GX, Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac XT6, Chevrolet Camaro, Chevrolet Corvette, Chevrolet Equinox, and Chevrolet Tahoe. Hyundai was the second-best manufacturer, with the Genesis G80, Kia Carnival, Kia Forte, Kia Rio, and Kia Stinger at the top of their categories. Toyota is third, thanks to the Lexus GX, Lexus IS, Toyota Camry, and Toyota 4Runner.

Nissan also deserves a special mention. The Nissan Murano ranked highest in its segment, but the real star is theNissan Maxima, the highest-ranking individual model. It scored a mere 106 PP100.

Speaking of segment leaders, we have to include the winner in each segment. The best small car is the Kia Rio, while the best premium small car is Audi's A3. Toyota's Camry is the midsize car king, and the Stinger claimed the title in the premium category.

克钦独立军的强项在小型车中得了第一名gment, joined by the Lexus IS as the premium winner. The best midsize premium car is the Genesis G80, and in the large premium category, the BMW 8 Series took the win.

The SUV category winners include theLexus GX, Toyota 4Runner, Alfa Romeo Stelvio, and Cadillac Escalade. The best minivan is the Kia Carnival.

The enthusiasts out there will enjoy the list of sporty winners. The best compact sporty car is the Mini Cooper, while the best premium sporty car is theChevrolet Corvette Stingray. The Corvette also won in the non-premium category, where no other vehicle performed at or above the average. Kudos to Chevy for beating the beloved Porsche 911; the C8 has come a long way since its trouble-fraught initial release.

The truck segment winners are bound to spark a debate. The Ford Ranger and Jeep Gladiator are tied for first place in the midsize category. The best large light-duty pickup truck is theRam 1500. Neither Ford nor Chevrolet even gets a mention.

Tesla and Polestar continue to disappoint, scoring 257 and 313 PP100, respectively. While Polestar finished dead last, it has managed to decrease its 2022 score (328 PP100) to 313 PP100. Tesla went backward from 226 PP100 last year to 257 PP100 in 2023. We're not quite sure what's going on in Sweden, but Volvo matched Chrysler with 250 PP100.

Other automakers that fell below the average included Mitsubishi, Toyota, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, Mazda, Acura, Lincoln, Infiniti, Audi, and Volkswagen.

While we expect Ford to be below average due to more recalls than ever, it is strange to see Toyota perform below average. The brand usually dominates the morelong-term US Vehicle Dependability Study, so it will be interesting to see how this initial quality score impacts the brand in the long run.

It's worth pointing out that Tesla and Polestar are unofficially ranked. They don't rank because, in states requiring permission, these manufacturers refused to allow J.D. Power to survey its owners. The data from states where permission isn't needed is included.

Lucid and Rivian failed to match the necessary sample size, but based on what J.D. Power had to work with, Rivian scored 282 PP100, while Lucid received a shocking 340 PP100 rating. If Lucid's sample size was large enough, it would likely be the most problematic brand in the USA. This does not bode well for thechallenged EV maker.

A car might not be satisfying within the first three months for many reasons. In the case of Tesla, thesteering wheel might come off. Or a person may have purchased the automotive equivalent of being trapped inside a ping pong ball. The Mitsubishi Mirage comes to mind.

According to J.D. Power, the chief causes for the overall poor performance these last few years are the increased "penetration of technology, continued integration of known problematic audio systems into other new models, poor sounding horns, cupholders that don't serve their purpose, and new models with 11 PP100 more than carryover models."

The key findings narrow the problems down even further. An interesting flaw is the humble door handle or, rather, the lack of a humble door handle. As automakers try to outdo each other, they develop new high-tech approaches to systems that worked just fine before. Basically, the touchpad on a modern door handle is causing more problems than the old method of just pulling the handle and opening the door. For the sake of our argument, we're ignoring the minor aerodynamic benefits provided by flush door handles.

Safety systems are also problematic, and J.D. Power's research is not the only source indicating this phenomenon. It's good to hear more than 80% of owners say that their cars are equipped with the fourprimary advanced driver assistance features- forward collision warning, lane-keeping aid, lane departure warning, and blind spot warning. Unfortunately, customers are reporting increased problems with these systems, with lane departure and forward collision warnings being the main culprits. Wireless charging pads are also a problem.

There is some good news, however. Owners are happier than ever with manufacturer smartphone apps. The market penetration has grown to 76%. EV owners use their apps the most, as you'd expect. It's the easiest way to check charge levels without being near the car.

We agree with J.D. Power's assessment that technology is to blame. For proof, look no further than the current Golf GTI. The Mk 8 is a brilliant car, but haptic controls and an idiotic infotainment systemcompletely ruin it. Luckily, VW is slowly starting tofix the problem, but you'd be much better off buying a used Mk 6 or Mk 7 GTI for now.

We've also experienced safety systems gone wrong, mainly in Volvos. While we applaud Volvo's mission of its cars not killing anyone, its safety systems intervene way too early. Few vehicles are as paranoid as an XC90 on a gravel road. As soon as a wheel slips, the crash mitigation system grabs hold and refuses to let go.

We've driven some amazing cars, but sometimes you come across a vehicle with so much technology that you're left wishing for a big red button that turns every single system (apart from ABS) off.

New technologies lead to progress, but they need to be better tested before paying customers experience them for the first time. Anything else will mean worse scores in initial quality studies.